


Taking The Lead

by parkchandaddy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Actor AU, ChanBaek - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 20:43:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19934203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkchandaddy/pseuds/parkchandaddy
Summary: After losing his lead role in the summer's hottest upcoming drama and becoming demoted to second lead, Park Chanyeol has to manage losing his role to an inexperienced, rookie actor Byun Baekhyun after misbehaving publicly and causing a major scandal.





	Taking The Lead

If there were a perfect world, then the indicidents of last night would have been easily swept under the rug, never to be seen again by the public eye. In that said world, Park Chanyeol’s career _wouldn’t_ be left up in the air, dangling on a thread, while he mulled over and over how things could have gone differently, or even not at _all._

But unfortunately for the top actor in Korea, it wasn’t. And the reality of the events of last night were hitting harder than could have ever imagined they would. 

“Stop biting your nails, Chanyeol. We’re going to have to go get them done again.”

Taking that moment to pull his thumb away from his mouth, Chanyeol ceases the incessant bouncing of his knee to look over at his disheveled, and sleep-ridden manager, Kim Jongdae. 

“How can I?” he snaps, irritation creeping up his spine, like an unscratchable itch. “I’ve been sitting here just _waiting_ to see if I’m going to be kicked out of this drama or not for an _hour!_ If they’re going to pull me, can’t they just come out and do it already?”

“Hey,” Jongdae’s expressive eyebrows furrow, and something in the usually easy-going man seems to snap. I was most likely from the exhaustion. “Shut your _goddamned_ mouth Yeol, you’re the one who got everyone into this disaster, and I didn’t spend _all fucking night and all fucking morning_ running between these two companies to save your lousy behind for you to act this way.”

Looking down immediately, the actor feels the sting of his manager’s words slapped him across the face, ears heating right away. Jongdae had kept his cool for most of this process, but Chanyeol guesses his childish outburst wasn’t something the poor man needed at the moment. The least he could do is be patient. 

But Jongdae, being the kind-spirited man he was, regrets raising his voice as soon as the words left his mouth, and lets out a big, tired sigh. 

“Listen. I’m not going to soften to blow this time around, Chanyeol. You fucked up. Big time. And I’ve done everything in my power to make it so you don’t get pulled from this show. Literally. Everything. It’s up to this company now to think it over, and assess their options. Don’t give up hope, though. I am the manager of the best young actor in Korea,” he shrugs, smiling lightly. “I didn’t get to where I am without any means of showing it.”

Lifting his head, the tall man laughs weakly. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, still feeling embarrassed for his disrespectful behavior. If there was one person in the world more willing and open to putting up with his bullshit, it was Jongdae. And if he manages to screw up bad enough to send his manager out the door, his career was over before he could even say goodbye.

No one understood him more than his tiny, good-natured friend beside him. 

“Ease up, lift your chin. I’m sure things will—”

“Mr. Park?”

The door to the conference room opens, and a small, skinny secretary calls for Chanyeol. 

“Yes?” he stands immediately, fear clawing at his insides, almost making his head spin. 

“The director and CEO wish to speak with you.”

_Lovely._

Jongdae stands too, and lingers a comforting hand on his back. 

“C’mon, let’s get this over with,” he whispers, as the actor pulls his lead-heavy feet behind him, into the room deciding the very fate of his career. 

The atmosphere was tense. 

Chanyeol could feel it as soon as he made eye contact with the director, seated right beside the company CEO. Every other person in the room was avoiding his gaze. 

“Please, have a seat, Mr. Park,” the CEO, Mr. Lee, gestures him to a chair beside him. 

Doing as he’s told, the tall man fumbles to pull the seat out, and plops down hastily, trying his very best to keep his composure. The awkward silence is broken when the director across from him lets out a sigh. 

“After the incident of last night,” he begins, and Chanyeol fingers clench, heart rate beating erratically. “Mr. Lee, the head of your company, and I have spoken and thought very long and hard about the future of this drama and what the best course of action for everyone will be.”

Nodding, the young actor feels Jongdae tense up beside him, and it wasn’t entirely helping at the moment. 

“You are a phenomenal actor, Chanyeol. Everyone was looking forward to your potential with this character, we thought you would suit it very well.”

The tone of the director’s voice sounded regretful, and Chanyeol wants nothing more than to bury himself far, far down into a hole at the moment.

This was it. 

He was over. 

Once the tabloids got a hold of the news that Park Chanyeol was kicked out of his role in the hottest upcoming dramas of the season, following his inappropriate behavior, the pristine record he worked so hard to maintain was to be tarnished and doomed forever. 

“After everything that happened, we’ve decided to take the safest route by taking you down from the role of lead actor—” 

The room around Chanyeol begins to spin, and he can feel the side glance Jongdae was giving him. Heart rate pounding a mile a minute, the actor goes to stand, but his manager was quicker, hand clamping shut on his thigh to root him in place. 

“However, losing you from the project would also jeopardize our ratings. So the collective decision, through our company and yours, is too pass on the role of second lead to you. We will continue the search for a new lead role in the next week, and make an announcement as soon as possible. This way, it minimizes the damage on both ends.”

Now, Chanyeol really thinks he’s going to lose it. 

_Second lead?_

Chanyeol hasn’t played the role of second lead since he first debuted 4 years. He would have rather been scrapped from the entire thing. 

But before the man can even open his mouth, Jongdae beats him to it. 

“Thank you so much!” he replied earnestly, voice full of relief, but glances over at Chanyeol a moment to remind him to keep his attitude in check.

Holding back a sigh, the actor bows in suit, and forces out a strained “thank you.”

“Once the main lead has been chosen, we will begin scrip reading immediately. Mr. Kim should get an email as soon as that happens, and we can’t wait to get on with shooting with you Mr. Park.”

Another forced smile and a bow, and Chanyeol storms out of the office, pride reduced to nothing but smithers. He doesn’t even wait for Jondae, brushing past staff and yanking his coat off the waiting room hanger before he was headed out front for his waiting car. 

To make it all the better, the actor’s next stop was S.M. Entertainment, where he’d have to face the CEO of his company, and the department that deals with scandals to compromise a deal with Dispatch. 

Which had help spreading the rumors in the first place. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” his manager’s voice comes flooding into the quiet car, as he settles beside him. “But keep quiet for now, Chanyeol. This is actually a far better deal than I could have imagined. It’s not the best, but it’s _definitely_ far from being the worst.”

“But ‘Dae, _second lead?”_

Snorting, the manager shrugs. 

“As far as I’m concerned, the second lead is the one everyone ends up rooting for anyways.”

The frown on Chanyeol’s face manages to deepen even further. 

“This was just one speed-bump. Just a few more to go. You got this. Just muster up enough confidence to ride this out.”

As the car pulls out, and the shining building behind them fades in the distance, the actors confidence seemed to diminish with every passing minute. 

By the time he was seated in yet another round, daunting office table, “confidence” wasn’t even a word that seemed to register in Chanyeol’s mind anymore. 

Annoyance. Anger. Rage. 

Those sure did. 

A reporter from Dispatch sat directly across from him, his hawk-like eyes scanning over his hunched figure. 

This was a well-known scare tactic. The paparazzi in Korea were like vultures, preying on idols and actors, waiting for a single slip-up, so they could knock on the doors of big agencies, and scamper off with as much money possible to keep their career-ending gossip under wraps. 

This time, however, Dispatch had merely been the reporter of already leaked news. The source of the drama came directly from the fans.

One of Chanyeol’s own, who had captured the entire scene on camera, and posted it _immediately_ to Twitter. 

Dispatch merely rode the storm it had created, and let it spread to all the news outlets in Korea. Leaving Chanyeol alone to deal with damage control. 

“Well,” the stern voice of his CEO causes the actor to flinch out of his thoughts, gaze snapping forward once more. “I think it’s time we try and put this under wraps, no?”

Silent, Chanyeol swallows thickly as the Dispatch employee chuckles.

“Well, we can surely do our best.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, the actor does his best to force a grin. Jongdae enters the room again then, sipping a steaming mug of coffee, eyes tired. 

“Now that you’re here,” the CEO motions to Chanyeol’s manager, who seats himself promptly. “Let’s begin. Chanyeol, in light of recent events, your image is under some serious compromise.”

_No shit._

Biting his tongue, Chanyeol nods.

“We are going to smooth this over by having you release a public statement through dispatch, post an apology to your fans on instagram, and confirm that you were _not_ in a relationship for the past few months.”

Cringing at the thought, he complies with a tight smile. 

“Yes sir.”

“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, Park,” the CEO sighs. “Things were looking great. Time to work from the bottom up again, reclaim and tend to the hearts of the fans you just broke.”

And with that, he was out the door. 

“That was a bit dramatic,” he snorts, sniffing as he pours himself a cup of black coffee.

Jongdae behind him chortles. 

“It’s true though, Twitter was exploding, your name was trending for hours.”

“I can’t imagine it was a pretty sight.”

“You got that right, my friend.”

After posting the screenshot of his ridiculously long note he typed up on his phone, Chanyeol turns off his device, tossing it aside. The last thing he wanted to do was be on the internet, nerves eating away for the moment they announce the new lead. 

News outlets were going on non-stop about how Chanyeol has been demoted down to second lead; every time he turned on the TV was like a slap in the face. A moment passes, and his phone comes to life with a _ding_ Scrambling to grasp it, the actor makes an annoyed face when he skims the notification title: _“Park Chanyeol posts heart-warming apology to fans after his scandal.”_

_Scandal._

Groaning, he tosses the device haphazardly again, running his long fingers through his unkempt hair. The night before was a blur, and the hang-over headache was still lingering to his dismay. Lucky for him, it was all documented on footage for him, and the entire nation, to see. Hell, the entire _world._

Replaying it in his mind, he can see himself, disheveled and very, very drunk. Stumbling around a quiet road in Gangnam, the drunk actor can be seen mumbling and shouting to himself, making numerous frustrated noises at his phone. 

After what looks like the hundredth time his call didn’t go through, Chanyeol goes silent for a moment. Then, all at once, he lets out a deep, angry roar, the strained and sorrowful sound echoing the silent night air. This had caused the person recording the video to stumble backwards in shock, as the video quality goes blurry a moment. When the camera refocuses, is when all hell begins to break loose. 

The sound of shattering glass can be heard for a split moment, before the alarm of a car begins blaring, waking up any other sleeping persons who hadn’t startled awake at his exclamation earlier. 

_“Fuck! God, fuck this!”_

Oh yeah, there was some cursing along the way as well. Well, a lot of it. 

In his angry wake, the enraged actor had smashed in a nearby car window, stumbling at the impact and nearly falling on his ass. Here, he begins laughing hysterically to himself, running over to kick over nearby trash cans and potted greenery along the road. 

And what _really_ had put the nail in the coffin, was when he decided to call the unresponsive person once more, and leave a string of incoherent screams, including said person’s name, in a voicemail. 

_Im Jiyoo._

Unbeknownst to most, she was Chanyeol’s girlfriend, of what was supposed to be on that night, 9 months. 

And to his betrayal, she hadn’t shown up to their scheduled date he had so intricately planned for the two. Rather, he found out through social media, she attended a celebration party for an actor who had just landed a big, important role. 

Not just _any_ actor either. 

She had attended _Doh Kyungsoo’s_ party, who had just landed a role for a rival drama this upcoming season, to compete in rating’s with Chanyeol’s own drama. 

It was a double-shot to the heart, and he couldn’t bring himself to do anything but drive to his favorite bar, and get completely, and _utterly_ wasted. 

Jiyoo was a newbie actress, but without telling him, she had landed a minor role in Kyungsoo’s new drama. And in some new clout-chasing plan, decided she didn’t need Chanyeol to be a part of it any longer. 

He supposes it had something to do with the fact that he wouldn’t ask his company to reveal they were dating. 

Laughing to himself, he wonders if she had finally gotten what she wanted. The tabloids couldn’t contain their excitement with the gossip, speculating how long and when the two had potentially been seeing each other. Displaying her instagram photos of her with Kyungsoo and the entire cast relentlessly channel to channel. 

SM Entertainment had released an official statement, claiming the two had dated briefly in the past, but had a falling out over conflicting schedules months ago. 

It was his own fault, really. Believing for once someone he handed his heart over too really accepted it for once. 

Ever since Chanyeol had become Korea’s “it-boy” after his first hit drama, more and more he noticed those around him didn’t really care for _him_. They cared more for what they could get _out of_ him. 

Dumb of him to think Jiyoo was an exception, really. 

But it hurt him enough to lash out, in a fit of drunken rage, and nearly put his career down under, nail-in-coffin. 

The mere thought of his ex causes the actor to frown, fumbling for his phone to load up her Instagram profile, heart jumping when he notices a new photo up. 

And to his dismay, it was a selfie, posing next to none other than mister Doh Kyungsoo himself. 

There wasn’t even any anger or resentment anymore. 

It was a flinch of disappointment, even though the man had barely mustered up a grin, staring dead-panned into the camera with his giant, black eyes. It was enough to make Chanyeol’s vision blurry, and he sighs, turning off the screen with a sniff. 

“Fucking heartless bitch,” he mumbles, realizing he still never got a response. 

Not a single call, no text, nothing. 

She didn’t even have the decency to tell him they were over. 

Finally retiring himself to bed after his long and exhausting day, Chanyeol wonders how much longer he could keep himself afloat like this. 

But rather dwell on it much longer, the man finally puts himself, and the troublesome day, to rest. 

Chanyeol finds out about the new lead roughly a week later, as he was sitting in hair and makeup for his scheduled advertisement shooting. The notification sprung in with a demanding alert, and the actor’s heart leaps into his throat.

There were several actors he had been speculating that could potentially land the role. Many friends of his, which he guesses he could brave through, and a few seniors who had been in the game long before his emergence. 

But now that the final choice was released, the man could feel the sweat beginning to collect above his brows. 

“Chanyeol,” Jongdae behind him starts, tone laced with warning. “I know what that is. Don’t you dare open that.”

“‘Dae—”

“Don’t fucking ‘Dae’ me,” the manager scolds. “You’re about to go shoot. Don’t ruin your mood for this.”

“I’ve waited an entire week in suspense, you really expect me not to open this.”

“I have some faith in you, yes.”

“Poor decision making on your end really,” Chanyeol snorts, clicking on the link, before his phone is ripped out of his grip. “Hey!”

Jongdae’s eyes are stern, narrowed in concern. 

“Trust me Chanyeol, it can wait.”

“Jongdae!”

“I said trust me Yeol, this isn’t going to make you feel any better!”

Pausing then, the actor stands from his seat. The shorter man immediately realizes what he said and cringes to himself at his mistake.

“You _knew_ who got the role, and you haven’t _told me?!”_

“It’s for your own good, Chanyeol,” his manager sighs. 

Eyebrows furrowed, Chanyeol feels a tantrum bubbling to surface, and he does his best to smother it. 

“‘Dae, I’m only gonna ask once more. Who. Is. It?”

Silent, the man merely lowers his eyes. 

A brilliant sign. 

Snatching his phone out of his friend’s now limp grasp, he peers down at the open article. 

And when he finds the name he searches desperately for, the world comes crashing heavily down under him. 

It was a name he couldn’t even register. Let alone put a face too. 

Realization hits him like a bullet-train, then. 

Chanyeol had just lost his role, _one of his biggest roles this season_ , to a _rookie actor._

“Who the _flying fuck, is Byun Baekhyun?!”_

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of this tweet: https://twitter.com/parkchandaddy/status/1107359835484508160  
> chap 2 is in the works currently, should be up relatively soon  
> (imma do my best w updating this, but if yall know me and my track record, i apologize in advance lmaooooo)


End file.
